It’s no surprise that most of the organizations that contact us here at Outsource Marketing want to outsource their marketing. When we get started, we build a thorough list of everything they’re doing marketing related:
- What are they measuring now?
- How are they positioned against the competition? Are they different? Is it meaningful?
- How does their brand stack up?
- Marketing materials and sales tools?
- CRM or Sales Force Automation tool reporting?
- Advertising results?
- Any PR?
- Trade shows, webinars, seminars attended or hosted, and results?
- Direct marketing results?
- Search engine marketing results?
- User experience on desktop, mobile, tablet?
- Content plan?
- Social media connections and engagement?
- Online reviews?
The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. The point is, how would anyone know where to start without knowing about everything being done (or that can be done) without creating an exhaustive list first?
That’s why I’ve always said, “inventory everything before you prioritize anything.”
When prioritizing, consider effectiveness (what’s working and what isn’t), dependencies (marketing infrastructure before marketing outreach), efficiencies (campaigns instead of one-offs), and our course, budget.